Why you should take the ME2603 Entrepreneurship course

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Parallel to our work with the New Business Venture Concept (HW5), IMBATECH has recorded a video with the topic: Why should you take the ME2603 Entrepreneurship course? We let several students answer the questions:

  1. Why do you want to become an entrepreneur?
  2. What would you like to learn in the entrepreneurship course?

We are really satisfied with the result. Please follow the link to see the video, and please feel free to comment and give feedback. What could we improve? http://youtu.be/Q1KnmxrSWcI

Enjoy!

The Narrative Clip – review

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There’s an old saying among photographers that the best camera is the one you have with you, and that’s what the Narrative Clip wants to be — a camera you always have with you. The little device is little more than a 5-megapixel basic camera that takes two pictures a minute, automatically. Clip it anywhere. And…create a detailed photographic record of your every waking moment.

When I was using it people in the street didn’t seem to notice it. It’s when you begin chatting to someone that they become aware of the device, which may prompt a conversation about what it is. People can naturally be a bit uncomfortable about being constantly photographed and it should go without saying that there are times to put the camera away in your pocket (which will put it into sleep mode). The quality of the photos is almost similar to that of a smart phone, however, the Clip isn’t about high-level photography, it’s about capturing a flavor of your day.

Pros:

The Narrative Clip is a clever means of capturing photos that users otherwise may have missed and capturing candid moments in their lives without the conspicuous intrusion of a manual camera. It has a small (in fact, so small you usually don’t remember it’s there), simple design and works automatically (very easy to use); the accompanying app works with iOS and Android. It’s also weather-resistant.

Cons:

I could identify a few areas of improvement for the Narrative Clip. First, it’s the lack of video recording or more advanced controls. The only thing you can do manually is to double-tap to take an photo instantly (which is a great feature), but more advanced controls are desirable for at least some users. Second, the lack of a desktop experience makes it feel too restrictive. The photos are stored in the cloud and not on your computer, but sometimes you want to use some of your photos and consequently need to download them. I had to do this from the iPhone app and send the photos to myself as email attachments. If bulk downloading could be done easily from the computer it would greatly increase the experience. Last, I would love to see the photos upload instantly to the cloud, maybe via Bluetooth through my smart phone. As of now, you won’t be able to frame or even see your shots until you get home and sync the Clip to your computer via Micro-USB (a port is hidden under a little rubber cover).

In conclusion, the Narrative attempts to be your always-on wearable way to record photographic memories — and it actually is a really good concept. The execution is excellent in many aspects, but feels lacking in a few others. However, it is one of the first devices in the world of lifelogging and mostly succeeds in its primary task of capturing random moments for you. I believe the potential of the Narrative Clip is great. I can only say I love it!

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Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley

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Last year, I got the amazing opportunity to go to San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Palo Alto for a week of entrepreneurial inspiration. During the week I met with a lot of interesting people – entrepreneurs, programmers, managers, CEOs and even a winegrower. They all had a lot to share from their respective experiences at companies as Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Causes, Podio, Spotify, Silicon Vikings, Business Sweden etc. I had a fantastic time and gained a lot of insights, experience and a few tips on entrepreneurship, and the most important ones I would like to share with you!

Fail Fast and Fail Forward
As an entrepreneur you will fail at times, so better fail now and learn from your mistakes than keep going on for a long time and fail later. The earlier you fail, the earlier you can start over as a better entrepreneur.

Move Fast and Break Things
Suggests you should make progress at a fast pace. As an entrepreneur you should expect to fail (break things) and unless you break things, you’re not moving fast enough.

You are a product of your environment
This is the concept behind the advantage of incubators and accelerators. Having great people around you helps you be great yourself – so find a suitable ecosystem and let it shape you as you develop the entrepreneur in you.

Multitask
Many entrepreneurs in the Bay Area start their ventures alongside their regular jobs. This lets them put time in their startup (which often generates no money in early stages) but still receive salaries from their regular jobs. Also, a workplace provides a great opportunity to identify needs or problems that an entrepreneur can fulfill or solve. However, to take their venture to the next level, it’s almost necessary that the entrepreneurs quit their regular jobs and pursue the goals of their startup wholeheartedly.

Narrative Clip

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I have got the opportunity to try out the product of a swedish-based startup – the Narrative Clip. The Narrative Clip is a small wearable life logging camera, funded via crowd funding site Kickstarter. They also recently got $8 millon in VC. I just got it in my hands on it but will keep you updated. Visit getnarrative.com to learn more.

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Help to Help and Social Entrepreneurship

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IMBATECH just got home from an amazing evening at Help to Help’s startup event. A lot of people interested in Help to Help and social entrepreneurship in general gathered in a hot but cozy part of Nymble to hear about Help to Help and mingle around with the other attendees. Snacks were provided and cheap beer could be bought – a perfect way to finish the day. During the event, Help to Help acquired several new monthly donors. A man even convinced the attendees to donate money for Help to Help’s cause, which in total raised 1300 SEK on the spot. The atmosphere was vibrant and everybody had a good time.

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During the event I started to think about the differences of social entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurs. One thought that crossed my mind is the difference in how they attack business problems. Generally, social entrepreneurs seems to know exactly what the need or problem is but struggle with how to create a solution, while other entrepreneurs struggle with what the real problems are and often even build solutions to non-existent problems (does not apply to all entrepreneurs, of course). But why is this? I believe, that social entrepreneurs were into social good before they became entrepreneurs. That’s why they generally understand the problems better than other entrepreneurs.

Do you agree? Disagree? I’m curious about your thoughts on social entrepreneurship!

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Sometimes delayed lectures turn into something productive

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As the headline suggests, delayed lectures can sometimes turn into something productive. When Serdar didn’t show up in time for today’s lecture, we were given a task to make the time worthwhile. Our group, IMBATECH, really got going on our business model canvas and made great progress for our business venture concept.

This turned out to be a really productive moment for us, in fact we will probably try to create similar conditions –  spontaneous, short and time-boxed – when working with our business venture concept going forward. I hope the used time were equally productive for the other groups at the lecture.

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Idea generation under pressure

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For those of you still struggling to come up with a great idea for the Idea sketch, here follows a few tips from author and writing coach Michael Levin who over the years has developed several tricks to stimulate his creative muscle which has helped him come up with great ideas for whatever challenge he may face.

  1. Ask yourself, “What’s the most dangerous, expensive, and illegal way to solve this problem?” Imagine that you have no limits – legal, moral, financial, whatever. This may lead you to new ways of thinking. (And then you can find a non-life-threatening, legal way to solve it!)
  2. Hide. Slow down and get your brain back. It’s impossible to generate ideas when responding to endless external stimuli.
  3. Count to 20. Go somewhere where you can be undisturbed, bring a yellow pad and a pen, turn off your phone, and sit there until you come up with 20 ideas for solving your problem. This requires discipline, and not every idea you invent will be a great one, but as long as one idea is brilliant, it will be worth it.
  4. Give up. Take a major step away, even for a couple of hours, from whatever battles you’re facing, contemplate the greatness of the human spirit or the wonder of nature, and reawaken the creative energy that our fight-minded world suppresses.

I hope this can help someone. The full article can be found at http://www.franchising.com/articles/creativity_under_pressure_4_ways_to_come_up_with_brilliant_ideas_when_the_p.html